I go wherever you go
“Can you- give me that.” Tony snatched the box of condoms from Peter’s hands. Thankfully he didn’t know what they were or hadn’t read the box, Tony didn’t know but he wasn’t going to ask him.
Peter reached down and picked up Peppers makeup bag, everything inside dumping out. “Oops.”
“Pepper! Can you either pack or take him somewhere?” Tony was losing his patience quickly. Peter was basically sitting on him and was touching everything, making it really hard for Tony to pack.
They were going on vacation and the packing and travelling bits were stressful but the actual getting there was so worth it. It was going to be a rather different type of vacation this time.
They were flying to Banff, Alberta for four days to have a vacation in the mountains then from there they were going to fly to the Maldives.
Well, they would fly to Calgary, then to Toronto then to Dubai then to the Maldives and then they’d take a car to their boat to take them to the actual private resort. It was going to be two days of travel and Tony was slightly stressed but they would talk to the kids about the expectations for the travel tonight since they were leaving tomorrow morning.
Pepper's parents would be joining them in the Maldives for a week and having them there was going to be really great help. Since they also planned on weaning Peter from his daytime pacifiers on the trip. They were going to try but agreed to give up if Peter was absolutely unwilling to work with them. They were putting no pressure on themselves.
Tony also agreed to do the packing so Pepper could do some laundry but Peter was refusing to nap even though Tony tried putting him down for one earlier. “Peter, stop touching everything. How about you go help mom with the laundry?”
“No. I want to stay with you.” He picked up a pile of clothes and tossed them in the suitcase. “I can help too.”
“Peter, no, I need to fold those. Don’t you have farm animals to feed on your game? Shoo. Go away.” He waved him off but Peter didn’t move. He simply stared at Tony blankley, opening his mouth in shock so that his pacifier fell out and when Tony laughed at the action, Peter laughed along with him. “You’re too much.”
“I want to help.”
“Okay. Then go into your room and without making a mess, pick out five bathing suits that you’ll actually wear.”
“I can do that. Watch how fast I’ll be!”
“Take your time!” Tony yelled after him.
Packing with Peter was like packing with a feral monkey.
Pepper brought in the last of the clothes to pack. As a family of five along with Aiser who they were bringing, and Peter’s necessities, it was a lot to pack. Morgan and Harley had to share their suitcase while Tony and Peter shared one then Pepper had all the essentials in hers and so far they weren’t sure if they needed an extra one just yet.
They didn’t need much for the Maldives. Basically just bathing suits, and some cozy, thin clothes, but Banff, they all needed their snow gear and thick warm clothes so that was where all the space was taken up. They would be travelling on their private plane to Calgary all the way to Dubai but from there they had to take a commercial plane. That was what Tony was worried about.
“I’m not packing pull-ups. Peter will be in underwear most of the time and if we need to put him in protection, it’ll be a diaper.” Tony told Pepper and he wasn’t going to argue over it. Peter was doing so well with his toileting habits and Tony was so proud of him.
“If you think that’s best then alright. How much are you bringing?” Pepper asked as Tony ripped open one of the boxes and put the stacks of diapers in.
“This should do.”
“Dad! I couldn’t decide so I grabbed all my bathing suits.” Peter dropped them all on Tony’s lap, moving to sit down next to him.
“Pete, that’s way too much. You aren’t going to wear all those, bubby. Pick five.”
“Urg. I can’t. I love them all so much.”
“Then I’ll pick five for you. One two three four five.” He tossed them into the suitcase, ignoring Peter when he threw himself back onto the floor, whining about what Tony just did. “Stop crying about it and help me pack if you want. Do you want to?”
“I want to!” Peter cried out, wiping his dry eyes and sitting back up, taking a breath. “I can fold.”
It was comical how he could change his moods in seconds. Kids.
.
.
.
As they sat down for dinner, Tony and Pepper prepared to have a discussion with their kids about tomorrow.
Tony was cutting up Peter’s chicken nuggets and decided to start the conversation. “So, tomorrow we’re flying to Banff.”
“To go snowboarding.” Peter added, taking a bite of his chicken nugget. “And tubbing.”
“We are. But we’re going to have a lot of travelling ahead of us, especially when we go to the Maldives.” Tony started, pushing Peter’s plate back towards him. “We have to go on a lot of planes and even a boat.”
“Is it a boat like the Titanic or a sailboat?” Asked Morgan, taking a giant bite out of her chicken nugget.
“Yeah, sure, we’re going on the Titanic, Morgan.” Harley rolled his eyes after tossing a fry at her.
“Ha! More for me, sucker.”
“Daddy. My sippy cup. You didn’t get one for me.”
“Oh. Right. I’ll get one now.”
“As your father was saying,”
Peter got out of his chair to join Tony in the kitchen. “I want to come too. I want grape juice in it.” He watched Tony carefully pour the juice then fill the rest up with water, screwing the lid on then handing it to him. “Thanks.”
It wouldn’t be a Stark family dinner without at least some interruptions. “Where were we?”
“We haven’t even started yet,” Pepper laughed but it wasn’t really funny, it was actually really frustrating. “We have a lot of travel days coming up so your father and I have some expectations for you guys.”
Peter popped a chicken nugget into his mouth. “Yum.”
“Are you listening?”
“I am.”
Tony took over for Pepper. “So, your mother and I expect you guys to be on your best behaviours. No wandering off in airports, no fighting us and trying to go into gift shops at the wrong times,”
“But-but-but- how-but how-how do we even know if it’s a bad time?” Peter got his point across, his brain working faster than his mouth could keep up with.
“Well, if we’re rushing to find our gates, it’s probably the wrong time. Don’t you think?” Tony poked him on the nose.
“Probably.” He shrugged, taking another piece of his chicken nugget.
“And when we go to Dubai, we’re going to be taking a commercial plane, not our private plane. Do you know what that means?”
Morgan rolled her eyes. Harley knew this conversation was for Peter and Morgan because he was old enough to behave in an airport but Morgan and Peter… probably not so much, although mainly Peter. Morgan would and could behave. Peter wasn’t capable of that.
“Of course. It means it’s as seen on tv.”
Everyone laughed besides for Peter.
“And we’ll be seen on tv too.” Tony sarcastically said but Morgan didn’t catch that part.
“Really?!”
“No, bud. But a commi-”
“Daddy daddy. I need to pee.”
“Okay, bud. Go. We’ll wait here.” Tony had to move the chair back so he could get out and then he was running out of the dining room and down the hallway. Tony hoped he made it.
“How long are the flights?”
“Five hours to Calgary then about a two hour drive to Banff. Then three hours to Toronto to fuel then 16 years to Dubai with only a two hour layover so we have to run. Then seven hours from there.” Tony took a bite out of his chicken nugget. Dinner was simple tonight so they didn’t have any leftovers and to use up the things they had in the fridge. “And once we land, it all depends on how long it takes us to get there.”
“Wow. That’s a lot of travelling.” Harley hoped Peter made it easy on them all.
“We’ll basically be living in the air.” Morgan commented then they all turned as Peter walked in, his pants and underwear around his ankles.
Tony looked at him. “Stop flashing us and pull up your pants. Did you wash your hands?”
“I peed in my pants by accident. And the floor. I did sit down. But my pee pee is broken.”
“Kid.” Tony shook his head, amusingly. There was never a dull moment with this boy. He took another bite of his food and stood up to go help him. “It’s not broken. You just need to aim, kid.”
“I’m so hungry I forgot.”
“Okay, well, step out of these wet clothes first.” Tony held his hand for support as he stepped out of his pants and underwear then Tony tossed them on the kitchen floor so they wouldn’t forget to wash them before they left.
Tony led Peter back into the bathroom and saw the pee puddle on the floor which he cleaned up easily with the wipes then got Peter wiped down while he was at it.
“I still peed in the toilet. That’s so good of me.”
Peter hyping himself up was adorable. “That was very amazing. I’m very proud of you.” He stood up with a groan. “But aim next time.”
“Ooookay.”
“Put these on and let’s go finish our dinner.” Tony handed him underwear from the basket, helping him step into and following him back to the dinner table.
“I wanna sit in your chair.” Peter climbed onto Tony’s chair then switched their plates around, making sure to give Tony one of his chicken nuggets. “For you, dad. That’s a gift for wiping my bum.”
“Gross.” Harley chuckled with Pepper and Tony.
“Okay. Thanks, buddy.” Tony appreciated his kids kind heart. Peter honestly had such a gentle soul who was always thinking of others and Tony loved that about him so much. “Eat your dinner now, before it gets cold.”
“It’s good. Thank you for cooking it.”
“Thank mom.”
“Thanks, mom. I’ll give you a hug.” He slid off his chair once again and walked around the table, climbing onto Pepper's lap. “Hmm. You smell like a flower.”
“You’re welcome, baby, but please go sit down and eat. Go on.”
“Did-did you put perfume on?”
“Yeah. This morning I did. Go eat your dinner.”
“Pete, come back here.” Tony was going to pull out the booster chair and strap Peter to the chair again. This boy could not sit still if his life depended on it. If you held a gun to Peter’s head and said stay still for ten minutes or I’ll shoot, he’d move within the first minute. Tony sighed. “Come sit on my lap and eat. Come.” He used that as a way to get Peter to actually eat and stay sitting for the whole dinner. They hadn’t even been eating for ten minutes and he was up three times already.
Peter walked over to him and climbed onto his lap, pushing the plate away when Tony brought it closer. “Eat.”
“Noo. I’m full.”
“You were hungry in the bathroom and now you’re not despite not eating anything. Eat.”
“Cause… I ate when you weren’t looking.”
“I’ve been looking at you since we sat down. Nice try.” Tony held a piece of chicken nugget up to his mouth but Peter wasn’t pleased by that action.
He pushed against the table, pushing further back into Tony’s chest. “Don’t look at me anymore. I can’t eat if you’re looking at me.”
“What time is bedtime?” Tony looked at Pepper, desperately wanting Peter to give him a break for the night, plus he and Pepper still had to finish packing and cleaning the house so they came home to an actual clean home and not a pigs pen like it currently was.
“Just don’t look at him, Tony. Peter, you eat.” Pepper reached over to hold his hand but that made him climb out of Tony’s lap to go sit with Pepper. Yep. He may not be the youngest but he was definitely the baby of the family and he was learning what he could and couldn’t get away with.
He held up a hand to Tony. “Don’t look at me.”
“I’m looking at you because you’re acting ridiculous. Find a seat and sit there until dinner is over or I’ll put you in timeout.”
He turned around on his moms lap, burying his face in her chest.
“Tony.”
“No. If he’s going to act like this then he will have a timeout. Eat your food, Peter.” Tony slid the plate over to him. “Eat your dinner.”
He sniffled in Pepper's arms, bringing his hands up to rub his eyes before the waterworks started. “I-I-I want baba.”
Both parents looked at each other with a sigh. He didn’t ask for one very often anymore but it was enough to break Tony’s heart when he did. He stood up and pulled Peter into his arms.
“D-d-d-don’t giv-give me a t-time-time out.” He sobbed, tears falling down his cheeks.
“I won’t. Let’s go calm down in the living room, okay?” Tony would have to eat something later. He nodded at Pepper, letting her know he was fine then he walked across the hallway and into the kitchen where he opened the cabinet that used to hold Peter’s bottles but now only held sippy cups.
Peter’s head snapped around, his crying pausing just enough to try and see if he was getting a bottle but when he saw it was in fact not a bottle but rather a weaning bottle, he turned away like he just saw the most disgusting thing known to man.
Tony ignored the loud crying in his ear as he filled up the weaning bottle with milk and walked over to the couch. It would have to do but he didn’t think Peter would take to it. He’d have to see. They weren’t going to take any bottles on their trip with them because that way there would be no option to give him one.
“Here, here’s some milk. Do you want it?” Tony shifted him in his lap so he was lying down but Peter fought to sit up. Tony let him, grabbing his arm when he tried to walk away. “No. Nope. If you want milk, I have some here. If not, tell me what you need.”
Tony knew he was tired. He didn’t sleep well last night like always and he also didn’t go down for a nap today.
Tony would put him to bed in about an hour despite it only being 6pm. Peter needed to sleep and Tony needed him to sleep. They had to leave the house at 8am tomorrow so it was going to be a long day.
Especially for a kid that wakes up at 5:15am on the dot everyday. Sometimes he sleeps in until 5:30 or sometimes he’s up at 4:55am. And on those mornings, Tony refuses to even acknowledge him until 5am.
He was crying because Tony looked at him? Because he told him to eat his dinner? Because he threatened him with a timeout? Who knew. Peter didn’t even know.
Tony pushed the weaning bottle past his lips, forcing him to lay down with him. He took a few sips, pushed it away to cry more but then decided laying down and drinking was so much better. Tony snorted.
And to everything that was holy out there, he was actually asleep within barely ten minutes and Tony thanked the heavens.
But he also couldn’t get up without putting a pacifier in his mouth first. But he couldn’t reach one.
When Morgan came running into the room, Tony held up his finger to silence her. “Shh. Don’t wake him. Can you find me a pacifier?”
She over exaggerated her steps to be quiet as she searched for a pacifier and found two on the floor, handing both to Tony. “He’s sleeping.”
Tony pushed one past his lips, waiting for him to latch on and once he did, he got his hands under his arms and stood up, not worrying about moving him roughly since the pacifier would put him back to sleep even if he woke up.
“Pep. He’s sleeping so I’m going to go lay him down then come help you clean up.” What a perfect time for him to fall asleep. He went upstairs, walked into the dark room and turned on the sound machine and now was the hard part, he laid Peter on the bed, covering his face and chest with a pillow to keep that weight on him. It always worked.
Parent hack 101.
“I can help you and mom clean.”
“Um…” Tony pulled his underwear off and grabbed a diaper. “If you really want to help us, can you make sure your brother stays asleep?”
“How? I don’t like it when he cries.”
“I know, but he won’t. All I need you to do is keep patting his butt and if he tries to sit up, just push him down and he’ll go back to sleep.” Tony got his diaper on then kneeled on the bed and flipped him onto his stomach. “Come. Just keep patting his butt like this.” He showed her then let her take over. “Can you do that?”
“Is he going to poop on my hand?”
“No. He won’t.” Tony covered them with the blanket and kissed both of their heads. “You’re the best sister ever. Thank you, my perfect princess. I’m going to put the baby monitor here, just speak and I’ll hear you.” He aimed it at them and left, shutting the door.
He knew Morgan loved to help out with Peter but sometimes it was a bit much for her to actually help out because she was only eleven and even Tony, at 43, struggled to deal with him at times.
He made sure to turn the sleep monitor up, keeping it close by. Morgan was an amazing sister, she had this handled.
.
.
.
Tony woke up to two big brown eyes staring at him. Just like any other morning.
Once Peter saw that he was awake, he grinned behind his pacifier. “You’re awake finally.”
“Yeah.” Tony mumbled, his voice deep with sleep. “Did you sleep well?” Tony knew exactly how he slept. He woke up shortly after he left him with Morgan, crying for him, so Tony put him back to sleep then he was awake every two hours since then.
Yet he still woke up with that adorable smile on his face.
“Uh huh.”
“Okay.” Tony rolled over to grab his phone. It was 5:07am. Perfect. So freaking early and they had a full day of travel ahead of them. “Do you remember where we’re going today?”
“To the mountains.”
Anyone else who didn’t know Peter probably wouldn’t have understood him but Tony felt like he was an expert at deciphering what Peter had to say. “Yep. Wanna get dressed and help me load the car up?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. But we have to be quiet.” Tony lifted the blankets off himself and got out of bed. “I need to pee first, you wait here quietly.” Peter lowered his arms after with a tiny nod.
In the bathroom, Tony went pee and brushed his teeth, combing his bed head hair off his face then putting on track pants he found on the bathroom floor. He took his tank top off and tossed that into the laundry bin then walked out, smiling when Peter was sitting up in bed and raised his arms up as soon as he saw him.
He lifted him onto his hip without saying anything and carried him out of the bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind them. It didn’t matter too much anyways since Pepper would wake up at 6am anyways and finish packing the rest of the things that they couldn’t pack last night.
Tony walked into the kitchen, freezing when he saw the light on. Did they leave it on last night? He and Pepper stayed up late doing the last of the laundry as well as cleaning the messy house, but he was sure they turned off all the lights.
He walked around the corner, surprised to see Morgan standing on a stool as she dug in the cabinet. “Morgan? What are you doing up?”
“Oh. Good morning dad. And Petey. I just was so excited I couldn’t sleep. I decided to switch out some of my bathing suits then I just couldn’t fall back to sleep so I wanted to make everyone breakfast.”
Tony looked at the mess. There was spilt milk dripping from the counter onto the floor, coffee beans on the counter and a flour bag dumped over. “The thought is very sweet, Morgan. But we’re going to eat breakfast on the plane.”
“Oh.” She looked down.
“You’re so kind to think of all of us though. Thank you.” Now Tony had to do one extra thing this morning. Great. He set Peter on his feet. “Can you take your brother into the living room while I get this cleaned up?”
“Sure. Come with me, Petey wheaty.” She grabbed his hand, tugging him away from their dad and over to the living room where she grabbed a blanket and laid it on the floor. “Lie down so I can change your diaper.”
“Morgan. No thank you. I’ll do it in a few minutes.”
“I’m just trying to help. You don’t want me to do anything.” She sat back against the couch with her arms crossed over her chest.
Tony picked up the spilt flour bag while he spoke to her, “Morg, I do let you help out. You helped me last night with him and you were so amazing.”
“Yeah but I want to help you like mom does.” She whined, pushing Peter with her feet when he sat up on the blanket. “Lie back down!”
“Morgan. Be nice. Common. Hey, can you get me a pair of underwear from the bathroom?” Tony was almost done in the kitchen, he just had to wipe down the counters and put away the dishes Morgan pulled out. “Hey, what time did you wake up at?”
“I think 6 o’clock.”
“It’s 5:45.”
“Oh. Then maybe 5:40 I think.”
Kids and their concept of time, Tony would never understand. An hour could pass by and if he told Peter it was only five minutes, he’d agree with you.
“Okay.” Tony walked over with a water bottle filled with juice for Morgan, a sippy cup filled with milk for Peter and a mug of coffee for himself. He took a seat in front of his kid, leaning against the couch as he took a big sip, burning his throat blissfully in the process. “Are you guys excited for our trip?”
“Yes! I’m so excited! When will we be there?”
“Well, we don’t leave for another two hours then our flight leaves at 9 and we’ll get there around 2pm but they’re two hours behind us.”
“Oh. Like grandma?”
“She’s three hours behind.”
“Ohh. Then we’ll go snowboarding?”
Tony nodded, taking another sip. “Maybe not today. But tomorrow we definitely can.” He set his mug down on the table but moved it to the other side of him when Peter tried to reach for it. That was a close one. “Stop moving, push your legs apart.”
“Then what will we do today?”
“Get on a plane.”
Morgan sighed at her father’s antics. “Dad. When we land, silly.”
“When we land… drive to Banff.”
“Dad.”
“What?” He smirked at her. “I’m kidding. We can do whatever we want. There’s a hot spring by our hotel we can go to, Banff is a little town, there’s tons to do.”
“Have you ever been?”
“Your mom and I went when we first started dating. A long long time ago.” He smiled at the memory. He had already fallen in love with her at that point and knew that he wanted to make babies with her, but she wasn’t feeling the same way about him just yet… it would be so strange to go back, to the exact same hotel they stayed at too, and with their three beautiful creations.
If only they could see themselves now, then.
“You did? So we can pretend that we don’t know you guys then walk up and say hi we’re your kids from twenty years later.”
Tony helped Peter get his feet through the underwear holes as he pictured that. If that actually happened, he would obviously lose his mind. But knowing what he knew now then, he liked to think he would still stay with Pepper to create this life. Of course it would have been so scary, knowing the absolute heartbreak that was to shortly follow by loving Peter and being loved by him was the most beautiful thing that saved Tony’s life, he’d do it all over again just to be with him. In any lifetime.
There’s such a thing as a soulmate. Everyone has one. Maybe some people don’t meet them in this lifetime, maybe that soulmate is their romantic partner, or a friend, maybe even their pet but Tony knows without a doubt that Peter is his soulmate. Someone you find in every single lifetime, someone you always run to, Peter is his. He was made for him.
And in this life time, he gets to be Peter’s dad and take care of him.
His favourite role.
“Okay. Underwear’s on, let’s make sure we have everything packed so we can load up the truck.” The truck was in the garage so he wouldn’t bother getting fully dressed or worrying about the fact that Peter was only in a t- shirt and underwear and Morgan was in her pyjamas.
“My suitcase is still upstairs, it’s too heavy to carry down myself.”
“Please don’t carry it down yourself. I’ll go get it, can you just wait here with Pete.” Tony put his phone in his back pocket, making sure Peter stayed downstairs but he was already trying to follow him up. “No. Stop following me, you stay here.”
“I want to come with you.”
“No-”
“Tony. I’ll take them. Is the car packed?”
Tony turned around to see Pepper walking down the stairs, dressed and ready for the day. “Uh, not yet. I need to pack some more suitcases. Morgan needs to get dressed and Peter needs to pee one more time and get dressed.”
“Come on, honey.” She grabbed hold of Peter’s hand. “Morgan, go get dressed and then we’ll be ready to go. Can you also tell Harley to hurry up.”
“I want to tell Harley to hurry up.”
“Peter, no. We don’t have time. We need to leave for the airport in ten minutes and you still need to get dressed and go pee.” Pepper had to lift him up by the arms when he went deadweight after being told no. “Walk, Peter.”
“Peter. Behave yourself.” Tony warned firmly, getting Peter to put his feet down and let Pepper walk him into the bathroom.
Tony used that time to quickly bring Morgan’s and Harley’s suitcase downstairs and with the help of Morgan once she was dressed, he loaded them into the truck, feeling a tad bad for the fact that Harley had to sit between the two trouble makers. Oh well, it was an hour drive to the airport, if that.
“I’m going to sit in my car seat now so that way we’ll be ready to go even faster.” She got into the truck before Tony could tell her no. They’d still be another ten minutes getting Peter ready.
“Don’t touch anything in the front seat. And keep the door open.” Tony stepped back into the house, patting Aiser on the head. “You ready?” He asked Harley.
Harley just nodded. “Peter’s the only one who isn’t.”
As always. Peter was like getting two toddlers ready at the same time. Tony walked down the hallway, finding Peter leaning against the bathroom door frame with his underwear around his ankles. “Did you pee?” He asked with a hair ruffle. He didn’t brush the kids' hair today so it was a beautiful curly mess. “Hmm?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, pull up your underwear then. Where’s your pants?”
“Who’s going to water the plants when we’re gone away?”
“No one, we’ll just hope for the best. Pull up your underwear.” Tony told him again but Peter was still busy pointing at one of the plants in the corner. “Bud, stop getting so distracted.” Tony leaned down and pulled up his underwear then took his hand to go find him pants. “We need to go.”
“In how many minutes?”
“One minute.”
“Oh no.” Peter gasped, fully convinced they were going to be late now. Tony loved it when he was so dramatic like that, it was so entertaining.
Thankfully, Pepper came down with some track pants so after getting those onto Peter, Tony scooped his boy up and walked into the garage to load up all the kids while Pepper made sure the house was ready to leave it for two weeks. “Harls, climb in before I put your brother in.”
“Can’t I drive and you sit between them? Or mom at least? They’re so annoying to sit between.”
“They’ll be good. The drive is like 45 minutes. You’ll be fine. Get in.”
“It’s 53 minutes. I checked.”
“Well 8 extra minutes won’t drive you insane. Get in.”
Harley reluctantly got in then Tony sat Peter down in his car seat, getting him buckled in. Next was Aiser who sat underneath Peter’s legs once Tony tilted the car seat back. “Watch your feet because Aisers going to be sitting there.”
“I want Aiser to sit in a car seat like mine too.”
Tony shut the door. Traveling days always made him realize how much more difficult it was having three children as opposed to two kids. He appreciated every second of it, even when Peter cried and threw tantrums, but it was definitely so much harder.
But still, so worth it.
.
.
.
“Tidy up your toys and come sit down.”
“No.”
Tony stood up and walked over to Peter, leaning over him from behind to force his head up to look at him. “Don’t say no to me. Pick up your toys or I’m tossing them off this airplane.” He let go of him a few seconds after but waited until Peter started cleaning up his toys, putting them back into the travel bag.
Once he was done, Tony tried to get him to pee once more to no success. He was fully convinced he would sit on the toilet and get sucked into it. Which would never happen no matter how many times Tony told him that.
“There’s no bathroom in the rental car, kid. You do know that, right?”
“My diaper.”
“No diapers.”
“Yes diaper!” He cried, running over to one of the seats and throwing himself onto it then landing on the floor.
Sighing, Tony walked over and sat down, letting him cry on the floor until the seatbelt light came on. “Come on, Pete. Get up off the floor.”
“Nooo!”
Morgan covered her hands over her ears, judging her brother from a distance while Harley turned his headphones louder and Pepper simply looked up then went back to her book. Typical reactions from all of them.
When the seatbelt light came on, letting them know they had to return to their seats because they were landing soon, Tony leaned down and lifted Peter onto his lap. “Shhh shh, hey, do you know where we are?”
Peter cried harder. “Al-al-al-Alberta.”
“Yeah, we’re going to Calgary to go to Banff.”
“No. I-I-I wanna-wanna go home.” He cried, struggling to breathe with how badly he was crying.
“Why, baby? We’re going to have so much fun.”
Peter shook his head. “No. Wan-wanna-wanna go home. Daddy.”
Tony turned him around on his lap so he could rub his back and Peter could lay his head on his chest. “Shh, it’s okay. We’re going to check into our hotel. And go swimming, hmm? Aren’t you excited? How about I show you pictures of our hotel on my phone so you can see where we’re going? Would you like that?”
Peter cried harder, looking behind him. “I wanna go back home!”
“Baby boy. Why?” Peter never acted like this on vacation. He thrived on vacations. “Pepper, can you hand me one of his pacifiers? Thanks.” He pushed the silicone past his lips, letting him calm down for a bit before trying to figure out what he was going on with him.
“Peter, what’s wrong? Tell me so I can help you.” Tony tried again, rubbing his boney back.
“S’thur ‘wen go.”
“What?”
“S’thur ‘wen go.” He repeated but Tony couldn’t make out what he was trying to say. Damn pacifier.
“What are you trying to say, Peter? I don’t understand you.” He looked at Pepper who looked just as clueless as him. “How about we take this out,” Tony went to pull the soother away from him but that was the wrong decision.
“Nooooaaaa! No!”
“Okay. Okay.”
“He said Steve’s going to be there.” Morgan explained to both her parents, looking over the seat.
Oh. Ohhhhhhh. Wow.
Tony understood now. Alberta was the place Steve and Bucky took Peter the first year he was taken. Tony didn’t know if Peter remembered being in Alberta, of course he was a four year old, he wouldn’t have known where he was but it was the place he slowly forgot about his real family and was told it was all just a dream he had whenever he got vivid distant memories of them.
And now they were going on a vacation in the place of Peter’s nightmares.
Of course Tony knew Alberta was the place they took Peter to, but he didn’t really consider what it might mean to Peter or even ask him about it.
“Ohh, Peter. Baby. No, we’re going to a small town called Banff. We’re going to be together the whole time, no one’s going to take you away. Ever again. Okay? I promise you that.”
“Steve ‘dill be he’e.”
It took Tony a few moments to figure out what he said. Steve will be here. He still didn’t understand why Peter refused to acknowledge that Steve was dead, no matter how many times they told him. It was like he was speaking a different language. Maybe because Steve was still very alive to Peter, sure the man was dead but the trauma done to him was still very much there.
“Steve is dead, Peter.” Tony reassured him once again. He let that sink in for a few moments. “He’s not going to get you again, I promise you that.”
“He… he’s not ‘dare?”
“No, he’s not.”
“Steve’s in heaven. He’s not alive.” Morgan tried to reassure Peter but it only made him cry even harder. Peter had a hard time trying to comprehend dying and being reunited with his kidnapper in the after life.
“No, Peter. Steve is gone. I don’t know where he is, but he’ll never get to you again.”
Pepper switched seats so she could sit next to them. “My sweet boy. Steve was a very bad man, so that means you won’t ever see him. Ever again. Not in this lifetime or the next.”
Peter swiped his runny nose on Tony’s shoulder. “But daddy.”
“I’ll be with you for always. I love you so much, Peter.” He kissed his cheeks. “We’re going to land and drive to Banff and we’re going to have so much fun. You’re going to snowboard and try something new.”
Leaning his head against Tony’s chest, he let out a shaky sigh.
When Tony took a glance over at Pepper, he could see how concerned she looked. Part of him wished they lied and said they were going to Aspen or something, Peter wouldn’t have known the difference.
Although sheltering him from his trauma wouldn’t have helped anyone.
By the time the plane landed, Peter wasn’t crying anymore but was clearly iffy about being in Alberta so he clung close to Tony.
The workers opened up the stairs and Aiser was the first one at the door, waiting for permission to exit and looking at Tony.
“It’s going to be so much fun, I promise you, Pete. There’s nothing to be scared of, okay? I want your biggest worries to falling on your bum on the mountain, okay, my baby boy?” He kissed him and stood up, placing Peter on his feet.
The workers had began to load their suitcases into their rental truck so Tony grabbed some of their personal bags and turned to hold his hand out for Peter just as he watched Peter’s pants darken in colour. “Oh, bud. It’s fine. It was an accident.”
First real accident in almost a month.
“I didn’t mean to.”
“I know. It’s okay, umm… Pep? Peter just peed himself, I’m going to change him real quick on here.”
“Oh, baby. Okay. We’ll be outside by the car then.”
Tony opened up the diaper bag and pulled out a package of wipes, a bag, a diaper and the matching pyjamas Peter has with Morgan. But of course as soon as Morgan saw the matching onesie, she wanted to put hers on too.
“Okay, change quickly then because we have to go. They need to take our plane off the runway.” They’d park it somewhere for five days until they flew to their next destination.
Tony stripped Peter naked, putting his wet underwear and pants into a closed bag then started wiping him down.
“It’s the same.” Peter commented, pointing at the onesie Morgan had on. Pepper got them matching ones, navy blue with snowflakes and red rim around the lining. The feet weren’t covered so at least they could still wear shoes, and it had buttons closing the front which Tony found time consuming, especially in Peter’s case because he was currently doing up a bunch of tiny buttons.
He lifted Peter onto his next and exited the plane, the cold air kissing their faces. It felt so nice and fresh.
“Mom! Look at the mountains! It’s massive!”
“Are we driving past them?” Harley admired from a distance.
“We’re driving through them.” Taking the keys from one of the men, Tony thanked him. Peter’s car seat was left for him to install so he’d need to do that before they left for their two hour car drive.
“Sick! That’s insane. I wish we had mountains like this in New York. Geez.”
“Hi, sweet boy. Are you feeling sleepy?” Pepper cooed at the quiet boy in Tony’s arms who looked absolutely scrumptious in his onesie and mussed up hair.
Tony kissed his chubby cheek. “Yeah, you’re sleepy, huh? You go with mommy so I can put your car seat in.”
“Where’s my car seat?” Morgan asked, trying to lift Peter’s car seat into the car.
“I got it. And you don’t need yours. Peter still needs his, you’ll be fine without one for a few days. Okay, pretty girl? Now how about you go in and hand me the anchors in the back.”
Pepper sat with Peter in the driver's seat, holding him while stroking his soft baby cheeks. She could tell all he needed was a nap and then he’d be fine, of course it was a bit unfortunate he’d miss out on the views there but at least he’d get a well deserved nap in and maybe it was for the best he was asleep for the car ride.
Once his car seat was in, Tony took Peter from her, and he immediately melted into him, yeah, he was ready for a nap. Sleepy boy.
“We’re going to drive to our hotel, so it’s okay if you need to take a nap.”
Peter pointed behind him to nothing in particular.
“Yeah, we’re going to drive now. You rest.” Tony placed his sippy cup in his cup holder and smiled when he took his pacifier out to drink it, his eyes rolling back with how tired he was.
He’d be asleep in seconds.
Tony started the truck, smirking at how beautiful the engine sounded. They rented a Cadillac escalade-v. It was similar to their SUV back home but this one was a year newer and the interior was brown inside of beige. Beautiful.
“Dad. Can I please drive this?”
“Uh let me think… absolutely not.” Tony drove out of the airport and onto the road. The roads were snowy, recently plowed but it was steadily snowing and the snowplows obviously couldn’t keep up with it.
It was going to be a beautiful drive up. And to no one’s surprise, Peter fell asleep five minutes into the car ride and to everyone’s surprise, Morgan fell asleep about forty minutes in. The two were out like a light, making it a very quiet but peaceful car ride. The usual laughter and conversations weren’t there but Tony had to remind himself that Peter napping was for the best. And probably Morgan too.
Plus it was nice to have quiet conversations with Pepper, getting to laugh with her without any interruptions from any kids. They stopped once for coffee and a quick food break, all while Peter and Morgan slept through it.
When they got off the highway, they were in the middle of nowhere yet it was saying their hotel was seven minutes away and not even two minutes later, they arrived in the town. Tony wanted Peter to wake up and see it but he was still out cold.
“Wow wait! I see a bear! No! A deer. I see a deer! I see a deer!” Morgan all but screamed, pointing out the car window at three deer eating something off the snow on the ground.
“You thought that was a deer. You’re never living that down.” Harley belly laughed at his sister's mistake.
“At least I spotted it. You were looking the other way.”
“I was looking at the massive mountains.”
“Is Peter still sleeping?” Tony asked, trying to concentrate on driving slowly through the snow. They’re hotel was a bit up one of the mountains but he had to drive through the small town first.
“Ummm… yes.”
“Okay. We’ll be there soon.”
“I’m so excited!” Morgan was practically bouncing in her seat.
They drove up to the hotel, amazed at how absolutely stunning it was. Tony forgot just how history it held and how the architecture was designed. He parked in the front and was greeted by two workers warmly.
“Welcome to Fairmont in Banff, sir. Could we help you with your bags?”
“Thank you, I’ll pop the trunk.”
Tony got out and now it was time to either wake up a beast or an angel child. He’d find out which Peter he got in a minute. He opened up the back door and gently shook Peter awake. “Hey, buddy. Car rides over. We’re here.”
Peter moaned, stretching his body out the best he could in the car seat restraints.
“Did you have a good nap? Hey.” He unbuckled him, waiting for Peter to open his eyes, squinting at the light. Please be in a good mood. Please be in a good mood. Please be in a good mood. Tony begged in his head, wanting Peter to have an easy wake up transition. “Hey. We’re here at the hotel.”
Once Peter recognized he was awake and was looking at Tony, he grinned behind his pacifier and Tony broke out into a relieved smile. Yep. Happy boy. Thank god. “Hi. You slept so well. We’re here now. Come here,” Tony lifted him into his arms, setting him on his hip and kissing his cheek. “You need a diaper change. Desperately. How much did you drink.”
“Mmm.” He pointed behind him at Aiser. Tony knew he wouldn’t talk with that pacifier in his mouth but it was too soon to take it out of his mouth. Screw anyone who saw and judged them.
“Petey Petey we saw a deer!” Morgan jumped next to Tony, grabbing onto Peter’s leg excitedly.
“Where?”
“Outside licking snow!”
“‘Dare?”
“I’ll check in quickly.” Tony grabbed his wallet from Pepper and hoisted Peter up higher, walking over to the front desk.
“Welcome to Fairmont in Banff. How can I help you?” Tony saw the lady smiling over at Peter. He was irresistible to anyone really. “Hello, cutie. What can I do for you?”
Peter loved the attention but acted shy anyways.
“We’re here to check in.” Tony slid over two pieces of ID.
“Of course. Welcome, Mr. Stark. How was your commute up?”
“It was beautiful, driving through the mountains is always so incredible. Two of my children slept the whole time so they missed it but it was a peaceful ride.” He poked Peter on his cute button nose, making him squirm and giggle.
“Car naps before fun is always the most important. Will you be going snowboarding or skiing while you’re here?”
“Yeah, we’re going snowboarding tomorrow.”
“Well, you guys have the best of fun.” She slid over his IDs and two key cards. “Your room is 1565. Enjoy your stay.”
“Thank you.” He handed one key to Peter for him to hold and joined his family with their luggage. They had a lot of stuff and most of it was extra clothes and diapers for Peter. “Got the keys. We’re on the very top floor.”
“We’re just waiting for a trolly to bring the bags up. One of the guys said it’ll be about five minutes.”
Tony set Peter on his feet so he could sit down. “That’s no problem. Don’t go too far, Pete.”
“Daddy?”
“Morgan?” Tony whined in the same tone. “Yes, my princess.”
“I’m hungry.”
“Me too.” Peter agreed, squatting down on the carpet flooring. He was barefoot and Tony really should care about it more but he didn’t. Peter being barefoot was the least of his problems. “I want… g’illed chee’d.”
“How about we take this paci from you now-”
“Noo.” He turned around, crawling away and right in the path of two people who had to step over him.
“Peter. You’re in people’s way.”
“No. I’m not. I wanna go ‘dare.” He looked back to see if his dad was watching him then quickly crawled towards the fireplace so Tony stood up to get him while Morgan ran over.
“Hi.” Peter waved to a complete stranger. It was an older woman and a man sitting down and drinking coffee. “I’m Peter.”
“Hello, baby. What are you doing here?”
“Sorry, he’s mine. Come on you,” Tony lifted him onto his feet. He really didn’t need Peter talking to two complete strangers who called him Tony’s favourite pet name. Peter was his baby, not theirs.
“I-I want to stay by the fireplace.”
“Come on, Petey.” Morgan took his other hand. “We have to go wait over there. Not here.”
“Oh, they’re matching. How adorable. Aren’t you two just the cutest. Are they twins?”
“No. No, they’re not.” Tony didn’t think they looked like twins at all. Peter’s hair was curly and light brown and Morgan’s was wavy and dark brown, plus they were different heights, well, kind of. And the hair could still be different even if they were twins. Still, Tony’s never gotten that before.
“You two are so cute, you remind me of my grandchildren. Come give me a hug, honey.” The woman held her arms out for Peter so Tony lifted him up. “Oh.”
“We really must be going, nice to bump into you two. Enjoy your trip.” Tony took Morgan’s hand and walked over to their waiting spot but now they were by the elevator waiting with the bags. Thank goodness. “I want to look in the gift shop and-and get one toy.”
“We’ll look later. You mr, need to not talk to strangers like that. You don’t know them.”
“Yeah.” Peter chewed on his pacifier, trying to get a read on Tony. “That was bad?”
“Yes. It was. I don’t want you talking with people you don’t know like that. Okay?”
“Can I open the door?” He reached for the key card but Tony held it away.
“Listen to me. No talking to strangers anymore. It’s dangerous.”
Peter looked at Tony for a few moments then nodded. “Yeah. But I wanna open the door.”
“No, I want to this time. You did at the last hotel.”
“No!”
Tony handed the key card to Peter. “Morgan, you can open it next time we come up, can you let your brother do it this time?” He hated always giving it to Peter but Peter would scream if he didn’t get to open it.
“Well… I guess that’s okay. Maybe I can help him.”
“That’s a good idea.” As soon as the elevator opened up, Tony set Peter on his feet, leaning down to feel his sagging diaper. He chuckled at Pepper. “He needs a change desperately.”
“We can go eat then go to the hot springs. I saw some beautiful restaurants downstairs. We should try one every night.” She would’ve grabbed his hand but he was pushing the trolly in front of them.
Peter stopped before they turned the corner, waiting for his parents to catch up. He wasn’t going to break a hotel rule on the first day.
He was so excited that he passed the hotel room as he ran down the hallway, having to run back when Morgan called him back over but apparently in his excitement, he dropped the key card so Morgan picked it up.
Peter thought she was handing it to him but instead she was opening the door with it, turning the handle and pushing it open. Peter felt so betrayed by his sister, he fell to his knees with a scream, tears filling his eyes immediately. “Nooooooooooo!”
Tony walked over and pulled Morgan’s arm, tugging her out of the doorway, then kneeling down in front of them. “Morgan, look at Peter. You upset him because he was the one supposed to open the door.”
Peter was crying on the floor like he just watched his entire family get murdered in front of him. But Tony didn’t judge, he was an emotional boy and made sure everyone around him knew exactly how he was feeling.
“Well… I really wanted to open it.”
“I know, but we all agreed that you’d open the room at our next hotel. Let your brother open this one.”
“But… he always gets to open them. It’s not fair! Then next time you’re gonna say he can open it too.” Morgan stomped her foot to get her point across then kicked Peter’s legs away when they came too close to her.
Peter took his pacifier out of his mouth and moved forward to bite her ankle but Tony was close enough to stop him. “Peter. No biting. If you have something to say, you need to use your words.”
“Noo!” He swatted Tony’s hand away.
“Morgan,” Pepper sighed. They hadn’t even walked into the hotel room yet and there was already a fight happening. “Give the hotel key to Peter so he can open the door. You will open it next time. Be nice please.”
“Fine.” Morgan tossed it at Peter but as soon as he had it back in his hands, he stood up, wiping his tears with the back of his hand. He unlocked the door and opened it.
“You can go in first.” He smiled at his sister, holding the door open for her.
“Let’s walk in together.” She suggested and held her hand out for him. It was in these moments that Tony was so grateful that they were best friends. The age gap between Peter and Harley was quite big and even bigger between Morgan and Harley but Peter and Morgan, right now there was only about four years between them and Tony loved it.
He rolled the trolly into the hotel room, leaving it by the front for now. Pepper knew what was in each bag and all they really needed was their snow gear which was packed separately.
Tony wrapped an arm around Pepper, walking alongside her into the master bed where their kids and dog ran off to. Well, Aiser followed Peter everywhere.
He was his built-in best friend and bodyguard. And Tony knows for almost certainty that Aiser saved Peter’s life by throwing himself in front of that dog. Peter wouldn’t have stood a chance.
“This bed can sleep all six of us.” Peter pointed out, crawling to the edge. “We can all sleep here tonight.”
“Definitely not.” Harley tossed a pillow at him but Peter wasn’t expecting it and would’ve fallen flat on his butt if Tony hadn’t caught him between the bed and his knee. “Sh-sorry, Pete. I didn’t mean to toss it so hard.”
“Ohhh.” Tony lifted Peter back onto the bed, handing him the pillow. “I think you need to get your revenge.” With a gentle shove, he pushed Peter towards Harley.
Peter wasted no time tossing the pillow straight at Harley and going for his legs to knock him to the bed but Harley was bigger and stronger. He grabbed Peter’s legs, flipping him onto his stomach then picking him upside down.
“Let him go!” Morgan laughed, attacking Harley with another pillow. There goes their lovely made bed.
“You want to go upside down too. Is that what you’re saying? Huh? Huh?” Harley tossed Peter onto the bed then kneeled down, grabbing both of Morgan’s arms and pinning them to her side so he could attack her by poking her sides.
“Now I beat you.” Peter jumped on Harley’s back. He overshot it by a bit because when Harley sat up, Peter practically did an accidental backflip off the bed so Tony had to catch him once again.
“Okay. Play fighting is over I think. You guys are acting feral.” He placed Peter on his feet but he was climbing back onto the bed again, attacking Harley. “Guys. Let’s go eat something. Peter. Do you want some milk?”
“No!” He smiled before jumping back onto Harley, getting flipping onto his back.
“Harley. You need to stop so they stop. Let’s go eat.” Tony lifted Peter up again and set him on his feet. “Hey hey crazy boy. What do you want to eat? Chill out for two seconds. Peter Peter. Stop.”
Peter purposely fell to his hands and knees and meowed. “Let’s pretend we’re cats.” Morgan was right beside him, crawling out of the now messy bedroom with him and going into the living room. “Meow.”
“Are you guys wearing matching pyjamas to lunch?”
Peter sat up on his knees and licked his hand. “Meow.” He nodded.
“Yeah! We are.”
“Meow!” Giving his sister a dirty look for talking, he swatted her then crawled over to Tony, rubbing against his legs. “Meow. Meow.”
“Pep, Peter and Morgan seem to be missing and now we have these two kittens. What should we do with them?”
“Well… cats can’t come to the restaurant so I think we need to leave them here.” She shrugged. Her and Tony were trying to get their kids to stop acting like cats without actually telling them to stop. “Maybe they’ll show up later. Let’s go, common, Harley.”
Peter was the first one on his feet. “Noooo! I’m right here! It’s Peter, dad. Look. It’s me. I’m not a cat anymore.”
“Peter? Wow. Thank god. And Morgan, you too. Wow. Put your shoes on and let’s go. Chop chop.”
“I can do it faster.”
“Noo. I need help.” Peter kicked his legs out when his shoes didn’t immediately go onto his feet properly. “Help me. Daddy. Help please.”
“I’ll help you.” Once Morgan got her own shoes on, she moved to help Peter slip his on. “Just slip it on. See? It’s not hard. But I’ll help you, don’t worry.”
“You’re such a good sister, Morgan. Thank you for being so kind.” Tony praised, squeezing her cheeks together. “Let’s go now. I’ve got the keys. Pete, can I take your pacifier?”
Peter shook his head.
“Yes. We’re going to eat, you don’t need it.” Tony pulled it out of his mouth which resulted in Peter throwing himself to the floor, reaching up for it.
“Just let him have it, Tony. We can’t do anything about it right now. And who cares who sees, not like we’re going to see them ever again anyways.” Pepper did have a point but Tony still didn’t want to let him have it so easily, although there was nothing that could be done realistically.
“Here.” He pushed it past his lips again, pulling him up by the arm. “You’re taking it out to eat. Got it?”
“Just to chew, dad.”
“Yeah yeah.” They hit the level of obsession with the pacifiers and Tony couldn’t help but wish they took it away weeks ago. It was like Peter didn’t know how to live without one in his mouth now.
He grabbed Pepper's hand as Peter and Morgan ran ahead to the elevators, stopping as always to wait by the corner but that’s when Pepper noticed Peter’s pants. “Tony. Did you change his diaper?”
“Oh fuck. No. I forgot.” He facepalmed. Peter’s been wearing that soaking thing for 3 hours now. Why didn’t he say anything, Tony would never know. “Peter, come here for a sec.”
“Yeah?”
“I didn’t change your diaper so you and I are going to be back to the hotel room real quick.” He took Peter’s hand in his, they also didn’t bring the diaper bag which was always needed. It had everything you could possibly think of in there.
“Oh. Then lunch?”
“Yeah. We’ll meet them down there. Let’s go.”
“Okay. I like to spend time with just you.” And that melted Tony’s heart.
“Why are you so perfect? Hmmm? Why?”
“I dunno. I just am.” He skipped alongside Tony. “Am I your best friend?”
“You are. Am I yours?” Tony got the door unlocked and let Peter walk in first.
“Uh huh. My best friend but only when you give me my pacifier. Because then-then you’re not my best friend anymore. So if you want to be my best friend, you need to let me have my paci. Okay, daddy?”
Tony stopped walking to kneel down in front of him. “Peter, no. That’s a form of manipulation and it’s not nice. I’m your dad before anything else and I’ll do what I know is best for you. Whether you like it or not. So don’t say you won’t love me if I don’t give you a pacifier.”
“Ohh. Cause it’s bad.”
“Yeah, it’s not good. I don’t like it. Let’s just get you in underwear and meet everyone in the lobby.” Tony got him changed and cleaned up then the two of them walked back to the elevator and made their way downstairs, back into the grand lobby.
It was definitely one of the most beautiful hotels that Tony had ever stayed in.
And he’s stayed in many fancy hotels. Money does buy temporary happiness, that’s for sure.
But people are what bring happiness that lasts a lifetime. Pepper, Harley, Morgan and most of all, Peter. His four people. The most special human beings in Tony’s life, he wanted to hold them all close and never let them go.
Lunch was in a fancy restaurant. It had a darker theme which would’ve been romantic if their three little creations weren’t sitting right beside them, one right in his lap while he pretended to read the menu.
“What’s this word say?” Peter pointed once again to the menu that wasn’t in English.
“It’s all Italian, Pete. Every word here is Italian. Tell me what you want and I’ll order it for you.”
“Not this word. It’s in English.” He pointed to the word menu at the top of the page, proudly. Peter wasn’t the best reader and speller. They also didn’t really work on it with him that often but it was just so hard to find the time.
“How about you go sit back in your seat. Go on.” Tony glanced over at the snobby looking couple sitting across from them. They kept looking at Peter then at Tony and Pepper, no doubt judging that they let him have a pacifier. Tony would love to unload all their trauma on them then see what they had to say about them giving their son a comfort item.
Sure he was old enough to not have one, but maybe they should try taking it away from him and dealing with the crying and begging for it then see what they’d think of it then.
Plus it’s not like they’ll ever see any of these people again.
.
.
.
“No. No no no, put that down. Do not lick the cord, Peter.” Tony snatched the unplugged lamp cord from his son and picked him up, setting him on the couch. “Stay here and wait so I can get my bathing suit on.”
“I want to watch you change.”
“Stop being weird and stay put. I’ll be 30 seconds, kid. Stay.” Tony rolled his eyes, their dog followed better instructions than Peter did because after Tony got his bathing suit on, he walked out and Peter was trying to climb the kitchen counter to reach the treats. “Peter.”
“Yeah?”
“Is the hot springs gonna have poop in it like from that one movie scene?” Morgan ran out, her hair French braided and up in a bun so it wouldn’t get wet. Peppers was in a high ponytail as well and they’d probably need to put a tiny elastic in Peter’s hair to keep it from getting wet.
He needed a haircut but Tony was in love with his curls, they were so long and bouncy on the ends and Tony was afraid if they cut it off, it would make him look so much older.
“What movie are you referring to?” He asked, walking into the kitchen to pull a wild child off the counter and onto the floor only for him to run to the hotel door and unlock it. “Peter. Do not open that door.”
“I’m not. But let’s go. What’s taking so long?”
The irony of that question coming from Peter himself. Peter made them late 9 times out of 10. Almost a 10 for 10 but they still had two other kids and a dog.
“We’re leaving now. Put your jacket on.”
“I don’t want to. If we’re going swimming, I don’t want to wear a jacket. Okay? I can go like this.” Peter backed up until he hit the door. “No jacket. Okay, dad?”
“We’re going outside and it’s like minus 20. You’re wearing a jacket or you can stay here alone in the hotel while we all go and have fun.”
That did the trick.
Now twenty minutes later they were trying to find the entrance into the hot springs but could only find the walking path. “Try turning left up here.”
Tony did another U-turn while Pepper followed the directions on a map since it wasn’t showing up on her phone. He drove up some icy driveway and put the truck into 4-wheel drive to make it up. He was confident in his driving skills but he was on an icy mountain with the most precious cargo.
Once they made it to the top and found the parking lot, Tony let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in. That was stressful.
“I take back what I said about wanting to drive here.” Harley admitted and both parents laughed.
“Oh really? I was just going to ask if you wanted to drive us to our hotel after.” Tony sarcastically said as he unbuckled Peter from his car seat, getting his kicked off boots on him again.
“I can drive us back. I’m pretty good at Mario kart.” Suggested Peter, jumping out of the truck.
“I think we’d all love to live to see the Maldives so I think that’s a hard no.” It wasn’t anything against Peter’s Mario kart skills, but he did suck at the game.
Pepper came to Tony’s side, handing him the diaper bag. “You’ll never let him drive.”
“Can you blame me? He trips over his own feet.” And to prove his point, Peter and Morgan both fell into the snow seconds after Tony said that. Granted, they probably did it on purpose but still. Clumsy. Not mature enough to get behind a wheel, not that he’s old enough to anyways right now.
“Sick. You can see the steam from the hot springs.” Harley, Peter and Morgan ran over to the stone wall and looked down, peering over down to the pool below.
“I can’t see. Up, Harls. Up.” Harley lifted a demanding Peter up, holding his curious brother up in his arms so he could look below the edge.
“Be careful with him, Harls.” Tony warned, coming up behind them and reaching a protective hand out to fist Peter’s jacket, thinking the worst. “You can see it when we actually go inside. Let’s go to the change room.”
“I want to jump over the ledge and onto the pool.”
Tony choked on a gasp. “You wanna break your legs? Is that what you’re telling me?”
Peter smiled innocently. “Noo, daddy.”
“Good. Now behave. And give me your pacifier, you can’t bring it in.”
“Why not?”
“Because… it’s so hot it’ll melt and be ruined forever.”
“Oh. It will?”
“Yep. I’ll keep it in the bag for later.” He took it from Peter’s mouth with no complaint. Mainly because he literally just told him it would melt and Peter was smart enough to know he would get it back later, no matter what.
Once the family of five walked in, paid and they got wristbands then Tony took Peter and Harley into the men’s change room and Pepper went with Morgan into the female’s change room.
“We’re not swimming in our clothes, daddy.”
“No, we are.” Tony messed with him, walking over to an empty corner of the room.
“Oh. That’ll be really uncomfortable though, I think.”
“I’m just messing with you.” He scooped him up, standing him on the bench and started taking off his clothes. Pepper had the smart idea to get all their bathing suits on before going which saved a lot of time and stress. Although changing after wasn’t going to be fun.
“My Dino’s.” Peter tried to jump off but Tony stopped him. “I want to go swim. The pool is that way.”
“We will but do me a favour and sit here for two seconds.”
“One two.”
“Funny.”
“Dad, where do we put all our stuff?” Harley grabbed his and Peter’s clothes, holding them in a pile while Tony was getting off his own clothes.
“Toss them in this locker here.”
“Mom and Morgan beat us.” Peter knew it. He sighed. He really wanted to win the unannounced race because boys were better than girls, apparently not since they were taking so long. He looked beside him at a large, hairy man who had literal steam rolling off him. “Are you a dragon?”
The man smiled at him. “Do you like dragons?”
Peter simply blinked at him. He walked across the bench and held his arms out for Tony, not wanting any strangers to talk to him. “Don’t ask people if they’re dragons, bubs.”
“He’s steamy.” He whispered into Tony’s neck, wrapping his arms tightly around him.
“Shh shh.” Chucking at Peter’s weird observation, Tony carried him out of the change room, setting him on his feet once they walked out. The freezing cold air hit them like a hard slap and Peter immediately hugged Tony for warmth.
“I don’t like it.”
“Let’s go in the water then. Just don’t get your hair wet or it’ll freeze.”
“I want it to freeze.”
“No, you’ll get sick, baby.”
“Petey! We were standing in the warm room. We were waiting for you guys for like ten minutes.” Morgan took Peter’s hand and pulled him over to the stairs. “I wanna go in with you.”
“It’s too hot. I don’t like it.” Once Peter’s foot touched the water, he immediately jumped out and went to stand with Tony. Once they were standing in the water, the steam kept them warm enough but Tony still wanted to go fully in. Although Peter did not.
“There’s a kids' pool over there.” Pepper took Peter’s hand but he tugged back. “Honey. We have to go in the water to get to the shallow bit. Wait daddy to carry you?”
Peter wanted to go home. He didn’t want to get cooked alive in this torture pot of boiling water. “I want paci.”
“I don’t have it on me. Remember I told you it would melt?”
“Oh yeah.” He stood there, probably thinking about how he could have his pacifier in the water with him but Tony picked him up. “Go get it. Noo, go get it.”
“I will later, let’s go in. It’s not hot, it’s so relaxing.” Maybe he and Pepper could sneak away for a bit and come just the two of them. He’d bride Harley to babysit for a few hours once the kids were in bed.
Aiser would help out, he was a good dog.
Tony walked in further, keeping Peter on his hip but once they were both chest deep, Peter stopped tensing so much and actually relaxed. “See? Not so bad.”
“Carry me too.” Morgan climbed up onto an underwater bench and tried to get their dad to hold her too. So much for going for a relaxing swim in the hot springs although with kids, there was no such thing as the word relaxation.
“I’m sitting. Both of you behave yourself in here.” Peter looked down at the water then up at Tony, laughing. “I’m peeing.”
“Great. Thanks for warming up the water.”
Peter and Morgan bursted out laughing so Tony had to shush them. “Guys. We can only be in here for fifteen minutes because then we’ll get too hot so go away. Scam.”
“I want to sit on you.”
“Okay. But sit quietly then.”
“Why?”
“Because.”
“Because why?”
Tony grabbed his hand and tried to force his thumb into his mouth but Peter turned his head, laughing. “Daddy. I just asked why. Why? Why why why.”
Maybe it was a mistake to take them to a place like this. Peter clearly didn’t know how to sit still and Morgan looked like she was trying with everything in her to not pretend to be a mermaid.
“I’m thirsty.”
“We’ll leave soon. I have milk in the change room-hey! Don’t lick the water, Peter. That’s incredibly disgusting.” Good god. Why did they bring their kids here again? What were they thinking?
“Mom? Can you take my hair out so I can dip it into the water so it turns into a hairicicle?”
“No.”
“Me too!” Jumping onto the ledge, Peter turned and was about to jump into the hot spring but Tony was quick to stand up and stop him.
“Alright. Enough. Do we have to leave now? You’re acting way too crazy. Take a breath. And relax.” Tony took a big breath in so he could help guide Peter. “We’re staying in here for ten more minutes. How about you and Morgan go to the shallow part.”
Peter chewed on his finger like he often did when he was thinking. Tony thought it was cute but now all he could think about was the dirty germs.
The shallow section was about a foot deep and had a railing around it so Tony and Pepper could sit on the outside in the deep part and still keep their eyes on their two wild children.
It was as relaxing as it could be.
Despite telling him a million times, Peter dipped the top of his head into the water and then he and Morgan spent the rest of the time trying to make his hair stand up and freeze.
By the time Tony and Pepper were ready to leave, they had been there for around thirty minutes. Peter and Morgan were having too much fun playing in the swallow bit so they stayed longer, sitting out every so often but they did have to leave before someone fainted.
“Come, Pete. Let’s go change.”
“I’m still thirsty.”
“Okay. Do you want milk?” He took Peter’s hand, tugging him along.
“Yeah.”
“It’s freezing. Hurry up, dad.”
“We’ll meet you guys by the benches in front of the change room.” Tony called out to Pepper before disappearing into the men’s room, quickly pulling Peter along after Harley.
“I’m cold, daddy.”
“I know I know you guys. Give me a second.” Quickly, Tony lifted Peter onto the bench then opened up their locker and pulled out three towels followed by the diaper bag. He wrapped Peter up tightly, unable to resist grabbing his phone and taking a picture of him with just his head poking out. “How are you mine? You’re too cute.”
“I want milk.”
“Right.” He handed Peter a sippy cup of milk then unwrapped him from the towel just enough to pull off his bathing suit. “Don’t fall asleep.” Peter couldn’t resist laying down on the bench. He was cozy and content with his milk and wrapped in a warm towel.
“I won’t sleep.”
“The hot springs always wear them out. It’s pretty amazing.” A shirtless man said next to Tony as he looked down at Peter. And this was why Tony didn’t like changing Peter in public places but he had no other choice. The bathrooms didn’t have benches or changing tables, Tony already checked.
“Yep. Pretty great.” He dug in the bag, pulling out Peter’s clothes and underwear, grabbing that first. “Let’s get this on you.”
Peter wasn’t much help, he wrapped himself from the towel and lifted his legs up for Tony to dress him while wanting to remain lying down so he could drink but it was difficult for Tony. “Can you sit up? It’ll be easier that way.”
“I want a diaper.”
“You don’t need one right now. We’re going to walk around the town.”
“Noo. I want a diaper.”
“Nope. Put your feet through.” He got Peter’s underwear on, much to the kids dismay. “Almost done. Do you think we beat mom and Morgan?”
“Uh huh. Wait. No.”
“Yeah, probably not.”
“I need to go poop.”
“Right now?”
“Yeah.”
Tony sighed. There was no way Peter would poop in a public toilet here. “Okay. Do you want to try sitting on the toilet?”
“No. I wanna go to the hotel in the small toilet.”
“Pete. That’s a bidet.”
“Yeah. I wanna use the bidet.”
“No, Pete. That’s not a toilet.” Tony would just have to take a chance if he pooped his pants. But he didn’t think he actually needed to go, and just lied to wear a diaper. Who really knew with him. “We’ll go back to the hotel right now, sound good?”
“Yeah. Then-then-and then we can go get a beaver tail Harley told me about.”
“Oh yeah. There’s like 5 shops here. I looked them up.” Harley took his younger brother into his arms, secretly loving the way Peter cuddled into him wherever he held him. Harley knew why Tony was so obsessed with holding him. “What flavour will you get?”
“Harls, can you stay right here and watch him? I’m going to get changed really fast.”
“No problem.” And it really wasn’t a problem. When Peter was in a good mood, Harley liked to be alone with him, although Peter’s easy moods didn’t last particularly long.
Unlike their dad, Harley couldn’t wait for Peter to grow up so they could become best friends again and go on so many brother trips together.